History

The Company began in 1981 as Royal Resources Corporation, an oil and gas exploration and production company. After 4-5 years of increasing prosperity, oil prices collapsed causing the company to falter and shift its focus from oil and gas to gold. At the time of this transition, Mr. Stanley Dempsey was a director of Royal Resources, Inc. and co-founder of Denver Mining Finance Corporation (“DMFC”), a merchant bank providing merger and acquisition and funding services to mining firms.

Mr. Dempsey’s newly formed firm, DMFC, developed the strategy for Royal Resources to become a gold mining company. Royal Resources acquired DMFC in 1986 and Mr. Dempsey and his DMFC partner, Mr. Edwin Peiker, were then asked to manage the new Royal Gold. Mr. Dempsey and Mr. Peiker quickly pursued their new focus of becoming a gold operating company. By September 1987, the Company was actively pursuing acquisitions of gold producers and prospective exploration properties to achieve its goal of being a substantial gold producer and explorer.

The stock market pullback in October 1987 caused Royal Gold to again refocus its business strategy. The Company looked for partners for its properties and focused on being a minority owner of interests in significant gold properties operated by major mining firms.

In the long run, this final tactic proved to be a very successful strategy. After several lean years, Royal Gold acquired a marquee royalty on the Cortez Pipeline Mining Complex in Nevada which became the platform for today’s efficient royalty business model.

Mr. Dempsey served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Royal Gold from 1987 to 1988; as President from 2002 to 2003; as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer from 1988 to 2006; as Executive Chairman from 2006 to 2008; and as Chairman from 2009 until his retirement from the board of Royal Gold in May 2014. Mr. Dempsey was inducted into the National Mining Hall of Fame in 2016.

Upon Mr. Dempsey's retirement Tony Jensen, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented that “Stan was the driving force behind Royal Gold’s evolution from an oil and gas company to a gold exploration and production company and, ultimately, to one of the world’s largest royalty and streaming companies. He was the architect of many of the Company’s original cornerstone royalty transactions, including the royalty on the Cortez Pipeline Complex. Royal Gold’s reputation for quality, diligence and professionalism is a direct reflection of Stan’s stewardship over the years, and we have greatly benefited from his keen insights and deep relationships within our business.”

Today, Royal Gold is a leading precious metals streaming and royalty company, owning interests on several of the world’s most attractive gold mines. The Company has grown significantly and its current portfolio consists of 41 producing properties, 17 development stage properties, 55 evaluation properties, and 78 exploration stage properties.